he I'm back baby! I was absent due to finding my first job, so ya girl is making that money now. Plus College is happening (aka the reason I needed to get money). So I cut in my essay time to quickly push out this finished chapter! yay! As for those who commented:

Elogane: You have no idea how close you are. Only a few things are different. Also, your English is just fine! I hope you enjoy Miraculous Ladybug as much as I do. Stay Awesome.

SheuOgama: Thank You, X)

Amanda27A.g: Welcome back! Clarity will come up in the future and don't worry the DGM crew won't be left out of the technological side of the modern day.

Thank you to those who commented on the last chapter! I enjoy hearing from you! Mild warning for this chapter, it's a little...dark? I guess. There are some graphic depictions. It's just blood and corpses though. So like...be wary. I hope everyone enjoys this little short one. Sorry, it's been so long!

Disclaimer: I do not Own ML nor DGM.

Chapter 12: Sickness and Scars

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

A beeping sound that matched a rhythm of a heartbeat sounded through the olive and brown room. Inside was a teenage girl with red hair lying unconscious on the lone bed. She had a clear breathing mask over her mouth and an IV was sticking out of her arm with tape securing it. Next to the bed was an brown nightstand. On it was a vase full of a very interesting selection of flowers.

A slim, white with pink tips Willow, a burgundy rose, a tiny bundle of Rosebay Rhododendron*, a violet Monkshood, a yellow, in curve chrysanthemum, and a flower with white and pink petals or more commonly known as a Rose Dog. There seemed to be two of every kind of these flowers all circling one that stood straight in the middle, a Convolvulus Major with a yellow center surrounded by a ring of white which was surrounded by a ring of violet. Propped up against the vase was a tiny card with only a symbol on it. A symbol of a black butterfly. Next to the stand was a small, beige cushioned chair and a brown couch. The couch was situated under a long window that looked out at the city and its lights. The sky was dyed a dark blue and spotted with various stars that peeked out behind large smoky clouds.

"Will she be okay?" A woman's voice was heard. The owner of the voice was a female with long brown hair and brown eyes. She was clutching the arm of the man next to her for dear life. The man looked like he was losing sleep. Under his eyes were home to dark circles that contrasted with his pale skin. His red hair and amber eyes lost their shine.

"Well, her vitals seem to be in order. The only issue we've seen so far is her coughing and high fever. We've administered some medicine for that. So I can say with faith that it seems like your daughter has a simple cold, she'll be able to go as soon as she wakes up." A male voice reassured the women. It was a male with raven hair and blue eyes. His smile was chipper and sweet.

The couple sighed in relief and glanced at each other with a smile before looking their daughter's way. The fond smile never leaving their faces. Until the mother spotted the flower arrangement and let out a gasp. She ripped away from her husband and walked over to the flowers. Without any warning, she tore them from their vase. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.

"Who gave these to my daughter?" Her eyes found the doctor.

"Uhm...well a young man and his niece did. They said they knew young Jones."

The woman mumbled to herself as she gripped the flowers. She sharply turned around and walked over to a lone rubbish bin and threw the flowers in there. Her eyes found the doctor once again. "May we stay the night? I feel as though I won't be able to sleep if I'm not near her."

"Of course!" The women gave him a week smile before padding over to the chair. While that was happening, the doctor glanced at the husband. "Is your daughter allergic to those flowers, Monsieur?"

"No, my daughter loves flowers. Most likely because my wife keeps a garden of flowers on our balcony. Sometimes they would sit up there for hours talking about roses and how some of them mean love or something like that." He seemed to be reminiscing.

"Basically flower meanings huh?" The doctor mumbled to himself. He turned his attention back on the woman and asked, "Madame, if I may ask, what did those flowers mean?"

She turned to look at him, her expression was deadly serious. "Forsaken, unconscious beauty, beware, A deadly foe is near."

Click

Click

Click

"Would you quit it? You've been at this for an hour!" A tiny irritated voice grumbled.

Adrien sat at his computer screens. His room was dark save for the light that came from the computer. On every screen, he had a different window and a different page up. All of them searching and looking for this thing. This Innocence he had dreamt and heard about. As well as a secret organization or The Black Order. Unsurprisingly, he found nothing. Of course, a secret society or something would not show up on the Internet. The one place where it's dark paths failed to lead him to anything! Instead, he found things that ranged from edgy songs to inspirational quotes. Even the definition of Innocence itself. But nothing on a crystal called Innocence.

"Adrien! I'm hungry! Pay attention to me!" His tiny friend whined.

"Plagg, you know where the cheese is." He barely took his eyes off the screens. His mind was far away. Trying to think of what he could search instead to bring forth anything useful.

Plagg huffed. "Don't you think it's pointless to look for a mystical object on the internet?"

A lightbulb lit in the model's head. Instead of looking for a crystal, look for strange or mystical occurrences. His fingers quickly ran across the keys followed by an excessive about of clicking from the mouse. So far the only mystical things that he found were ghost stories, but those are common. He needed something strange. Something weird. Something impossible. Something...miraculous.

The kwami groaned and flew in front of his face. "Adrien." He warned. "If you keep this up, you won't be able to sleep."

"I'll stop when I find something."

"No!" The god-like being flew right in his face. The action forced Adrien to lean back away from the computer. "You'll burn yourself out at this rate. You already don't get enough sleep as it is!"

The model sighed and ran his hands through his hair. It was true that he was not getting the proper amount of sleep, but this was important. That—he shuttered—beast in the dream said the word Innocence right before he had even known what it was. Surely it was a sign. And it would be best if he rather thinks about that little fact about that nightmare instead of the rest of it. He did not want to relive that moment. He can barely close his eyes without being reminded of something eating at him or a flash of red chasing him—no Marinette down the streets of Paris. That monster demanded something—an object of some kind called Innocence. It could be the same Innocence that Lou Fa had spoken of.

Speaking of the Chinese girl, he couldn't believe that she was the model for his father's rival company. Gives a new meaning to hiding in plain sight. When he first saw her in the video, he assumed she was just some random civilian with ties to the exorcists somehow. Turns out she's a scientist for their organization. Maybe, I should talk to her and get more information out of her? She would be the one to know the most about Innocence, on a scientific scale.

The model looked at his gluttonous friend and sighed once more. "I'll stop...but let me just look for one more thing. Let me search using one more keyword! After that, I'll turn in for the night!"

The kwami's green eyes scanned his face and he hummed. After a minute, he sighed and floated away. "Fine! Only one! If I see you do more, I'll bite you and make sure to rub all my precious cheese over your model clothes."

Adrien gave him a smile and nodded his head. "Thank you!" He turned back to his computer and quickly typed the keywords in. He scrolled through the pages and examined every title. As much as he wanted to look at all the sites, his kwami would get upset with him if he spent too much time on it. He was scrolling so fast that he nearly missed a very intriguing page title.

Man-Eating House.

What in the world was this? He clicked on the link and it opened a thread. On it was the original post. The person was ranting and raving about a house moving on its own, kidnapping people, and objects. Saying they've witnessed it snatching people with a rug and pulling them inside. They even inserted a picture. It was old and very Victorian style. It looked extremely out of place with all the modern buildings surrounding it. Underneath the picture was an address. It was hard to believe at first. But didn't the exorcists say that Innocence did strange things? They had given examples too, examples that were far wackier than a house coming to life. He scrolled past all the comments denouncing and "debunking" the claim using the fact that Houses don't eat people. Nor could they move.

Maybe if I check it out tomorrow, I could see for myself. But tomorrow's Friday! My schedule is bound to be full. He mental ran through it. Because of school and his various extracurricular activities, he wasn't free until about 18:00. What about Saturday? To his surprise, it was blank. The first time in a long while. A grin spread on his face. He could leave after he was done with school and everything else. Depending on the distance the house was at, it was safe to say that he'll need all the time he can get to get there, check things out, and get back. With that in mind, he bookmarked the page before closing all the windows. He clicked the computer off and stretched his arms above his head. A yawn tore out of his throat as he turned in his chair. He rose up and strolled over to his bed where Plagg was lying on his pillow munching on cheese.

"Plagg! Don't eat on the pillows! I don't want pieces of Camembert in my hair in the morning!" He reached out and pulled the pillow from under the kwami. The kwami avoided getting falling off by flying in the air with his revolting cheese. The model dusted the crumbs off and turned the pillow over.

"Well you were taking too long and I was hungry!"

"Yeah yeah." He slid under the covers and curled up in his blankets. A part of him praying that he won't be visited by any dreams. Lord knows that he wouldn't be able to take another horrifying nightmare. With a relaxing sigh, he buried his head in the pillow while the cheese-loving kwami laid on the blanket. Curling into himself like a real cat, he slid his eyes close and reveled in the darkness.

Far away from prying eyes, a young girl laid in a hospital bed. Next to her was an adult figure curled up in a blanket on the room's couch. The girl looked to be peacefully asleep. Her eyes were closed and she had a slight smile on her face. Whatever she was dreaming of seemed to be pleasant.

"How naughty, don't you know that he's mine?" A child's voice broke through the girl's dream and she opened her eyes in a panic. Who was that? She glanced around her room and saw that she was alone. She had remembered being admitted to the hospital and falling asleep after the doctors gave her medication.

She turned to her arm and saw that the IV was out and hanging at the side of the machine. She reached up and felt her face because she was sure that they had put an oxygen mask on her. She gasped when she felt that it was missing. Panic rose in her for a moment before she realized that she was fine. Nothing was wrong with her. Hell, she wasn't even coughing.

Maybe I'm cured?

A child's giggle reached her ears and she whipped her head towards the door. It was wide open and light from the hall was shining through it.

"Hello?"

"Esther!" She heard her father's voice. The man sounded happy.

"Papa?" Esther slid off the hospital bed and stumbled towards the door. The slick ground nearly made her fall, but she was able to get close enough to the door and grab it's frame before she had any major slip.

With the frame in her tiny hands, she peeked around the corner. The hall was pure white and clean, save for a few posters and pictures hanging up. It looked normal. However, it's normalcy ended when she saw it's "end" or rather lack of an end. It seemed to go on forever and increasingly get darker as it went. A laughter that sound of bells entered her ears and she found herself hesitant to leave the room. Something was tugging at her stomach, trying to tell her to turn back.

"Esther! Darling come here!" In the distance, she saw movement in the darkness and out came her father. The man had a grin on his face and his arms were extended out to her

Relief overtook her and Esther stepped out of the room. Without a thought, she ran into the man's arms and hugged him tightly. She turned her head up at him and gave him a blinding smile. "I thought you were going away?"

He chuckled happily and gripped her shoulders. "Well, it seems that they decided not to send me back."

Her grin widened. So far everything was going well. It made her not regret that she had left her wondrous dream a minute ago. Well...almost. Wait if papa is here then is..."Papa, where's mama?"

For some reason, his grin stretched to a disturbing degree. It made her skin crawl. His hold on her shoulders tightened and she felt herself being forced away from him. "She's downstairs! Impatiently waiting for us! Let's go!" He seemed eager. Not that, that was uncommon. She always knew that her parents cherished and loved one another. Sure they argued like a normal married couple, but it never lasted long.

He released one hand and turn her around so that they were walking side by side. They ventured down the darkened hall. An uneasy feeling in her gut made her slow her pace and look back. Behind her, she saw a flash of white and blue along with a giggle. A familiar giggle that she had heard before her father's voice. Who?

Suddenly they were descending and the world grew dark around her. Unable to see in front of her, she gripped her father's arm stayed close. He giggled and it sounded strange to her ears. Almost as if it came from a robotic doll. One that she used to own in her younger years of life. She tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness when a smell assaulted her nose. It smelled like iron. It was everywhere. She could smell it off the walls, the floor, etc. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and instead of pitch black, she could see silhouettes of objects. Something was slumped against the wall and there was a long rectangle shape—almost like a bed—as well. Curious, she pulled away from her father and took a step forward. Her feet stepped in a warm liquid which made her slip and she fell back into it.

Another giggle from her father, "Be careful, it's a little slippery."

She groaned and lifted her hand to her head only to stop when she realized it was soaked in the strangely black substance. The smell of iron seemed stronger on her hand. It made her curious. Could it water? Tap water maybe? If the liquid she had fallen was water, then why did it have such an iron smell? A familiar iron smell now that she thought about it, but where had she smelt it? She shook her head and lifted herself off the floor while trying not to slip and fall again.

"Come now, Esther. We mustn't keep your mother waiting." The way he spoke was completely unlike him.

"Alright..." She hesitated before going back into the man's arms. This time she recoiled away. She felt like she just hugged water pillow. Her arms had too easily squeezed her father. That was not normal at all.

"Esther?" His voice was robotic now and she stepped away from him. Whoever—whatever this thing was it was certainly not her father. "Esther? What's wrong?"

"You're not my papa! What are you?" If she had been in her right mind, she would've slapped herself for saying such a thing. If any horror films she secretly watched told her anything, this was the part where she would run not ask questions that the villain would never answer!

He stopped before he started to cackle. She heard mechanical parts moving and her. The sounds rang many danger bells in her and she flickered her eyes to the stairs that brought her down here. There was light creeping out of the doorway at the top. She decided not to linger any longer. Whatever this thing was, it was not good. Anything that tried to impersonate her family wasn't good. Esther turned and ran. Her feet letting her slide around as she did so. She prayed that her luck would not be so bad enough for her to trip.

Scrambling to the light, once she got to the stairs her luck caved in on her and she slipped. This time she caught herself from slamming her forehead on the stairs. Thankful, she allowed one sigh of relief to escape her before she heard someone sharp running across something. She turned her head and gasped. Her "father" turned into something tall and slender. His red hair that she so elegantly took after was now pitch black and hung like yarn on a doll. His body seemed to be almost jointless with the way he was crouched down on all fours. His hands were replaced with large claws that were digging themselves into the wall. The light reflected and revealed his face. It looked like he had bolted a large mask on his face. His mouth was in a permanent smile filled with metal rows of shark teeth.

"Darling~" his voice was broken. "You shouldn't run from papa!" He leaped at her, his clawed hands spread out and ready to pierce into her.

A scream tore from her throat and she never scrambled up a pair of stairs faster in her life. She wasted no time to look back when she heard a crash and something break and fall. She ran until light engulfed her. The hall was now different. It used to be pure white and normal but now it was stained red. Nurses, doctors, patients were slumped against the wall. Pools of blood were forming from the corpses. Trails of blood lined the walls. It was horrific. Shocked, she lifted to hands to shield her gaping mouth but stopped. Her arms looked like they had been dipped in blood from her fingers to her elbows.

She screamed at the sight. She screamed for the people—victims. She screamed in hopes that it was all a dream. She screamed for someone to help her. She screamed for her dream hero to come and save her. She screamed until her throat croaked and her tears forced themselves from her eyes.

A mechanical sound reached her ears but she refused to move. Her legs felt like lead and her heart was just as heavy. She was old enough to connect the dots. That thing had killed all these people and now she was next. But the reality still didn't make her move. Instead, she denied the reality. It couldn't be real. If a dangerous monster did do this to all these people then Ladybug, Chat Noir, and that other Hero would've shown up. They would've saved her. It's not real! It can't be real! She closed her eyes. If she kept them close then she would wake up from this nightmare. She would be home in her bed. Her father would be normal. Her family would be together and whole. She just had to remember that this wasn't real.

"Stop." A voice ordered and the mechanical sounds stopped. Esther refused to open her eyes. She was too focused on how unreal the whole situation was and that any moment now she would wak— "Open your eyes, girl."

"N-No." She refused. This was a dream. It had to be.

"No? I've never had someone refuse me before...other than..." The voice trailed off before giggling uncontrollably. "How fun!"

Suddenly something flew past Esther's face and she felt something slice deep into her cheek. The girl had no choice but to open her eyes. Her hand flew to her injury and she stopped. The blood was gone and so was the scene around her. Now she stood on a black plane. The floor was black and white like a chessboard and covered with toys that kids would only dream to have. It wasn't just toys. There were unopened presents as well. It looked like she had found a child's heaven. If heaven to kids was a nearly pitch black place. The only light was floating candles of various colors. The candles looked like candies with their bright colors and stripes. Where was she?

"You're in my world, kid~!" A voice called to her. It was the same voice from before. She whipped her head to the sound and found a child sitting on a floating umbrella like a strange witch. Her outfit was white and black. Her dress was parted down the middle of her chest but did not go all the way down. It flowed out like a tutu but its ends were triangles like that mythical fairy. Tinker something? Her arms were wrapped in some sort of black ribbon. She had long socks that were torn at the top. Her skin was like ash. Her eyes were an unforgiving amber that reminded her of her father. She had short bluish hair that spiked up as if she had been hit by lightning. Along her forehead was a line of crosses. Seven in total.

"Who...are you?" The words fell from her mouth before she could catch them.

"Who me?" She giggled. "I'm just a girl looking for someone to play with that's all."

"Play with?" The redhead became confused.

The mysterious child's grin turned into a smile that only belonged on the face of Cheshire Cat. "Yes, play! Don't worry though... I won't be too rough! You are sick already and ending you now will just be so boring~!" Her blood froze. End her now? Did the child mean that she was going to-? "So, for our first game...how 'bout Hide and Seek. I'll be the one seeking." The candles floated up by her and turned a sharp 90 degrees. "I'll give you a head start of 10 seconds." 10!? How unfair!

"10." Esther turned and ran.

"9." She tripped over a block before scurrying up again.

If the girl was serious about ending her, then she needed to pick up the pace. "8."

The redhead took a sharp turn and saw a large present. It was gold with green lace around it. It looked very sophisticated for a gift box. "7."

"6." As she drew near, she noticed a large hole in its side. Perfect for hiding in. She slid towards the entrance and got down on all fours. The child was now in the distance but her counting could still be heard. "5." Esther crawled inside and scanned its interior. It was surprisingly dark, save for the light that swung over a small hospital bed. "4." The girl walked towards it and laid her eyes on the person inside it. They were beautiful yet sad. Like a porcelain doll of sleeping beauty herself.

"Hello?" No answer from the Beauty. "Miss?"

"3." The voice echoed through the walls and the girl jumped. Without hesitation, she went around the bed and ducked down behind it. Her heart was pounding in her chest and head. She could hear it beat furiously as the countdown continued.

"2." She never saw herself as religious. That was usually her father's thing, being that he was raised Catholic. She squeezed her eyes shut and clasped her hands together. If there was a God up there, then maybe it had the power to pull her out of this nightmare before it became too late.

"1."

A whimper escaped her at the girl's next words. "Ready or not...here I come."

When the brown haired women awoke, she nearly called the whole staff to the room with her scream alone. Her eyes were wide and fixed on the girl in the bed. The girl was injured from head to toe. Gashes ranging from big and small. The girl's mouth was moving but she was not awake yet. Doctors and Nurses raced in and quickly attended to the child and her mother. None of them had noticed the dark butterfly that was sitting on the window sill. Silently watching.

*1: Rhododendrons: I learned that these were poisonous recently and thought, "Holy hell! How cool is that?!". Which is great because that means not only was the meaning behind the bouquet was foreshadowing, the poisonous flower in the bundle foreshadows a lot more things! Hehehe.

For those of you who get the hidden references in this chapter, I applaud you. Anyway, that was Chapter 12, pretty short but what can you do? The next two chapters are going to be fun! Bonding, blowing up things, food eating, and hints of death. The usual normal things that occur in this story!